McArt's hat trick propels season-opening win for Gaylord soccer team

CHEBOYGAN — Last season’s biggest weakness is shaping up to be this season’s biggest strength for the Gaylord soccer team.

The Blue Devils’ offense clicked all game Monday night, coming back twice to knock off Cheboygan 5-4 in the seaosn opener.

After the game, Gaylord coach Sean Byram raved about his forwards.

“When we get the ball up close and turn a defender, we’re consistently getting a good shot,” Byram said. “We’ve always had one or two guys who can finish, but this is the most quality forwards I’ve had on a team. We had trouble hitting the back of the net last year, but it will be a strength this year.”

Sophomore Jason McArt was the big scorer on this day, netting his first career hat trick.

“He had a lot of time as a freshman and he had a great game,” Byram said.

Senior Mike Stilson added a goal and two assists while senior Jeff Cook, despite being marked by multiple defenders, centered the offense and had a goal and an assist.

Advertisement

Senior Gavin Palm and junior Jake Edwards added assists for Gaylord, which jumped ahead 2-0 with the wind in the first half.

After the Chiefs netted a goal, Gaylord closed out the half ahead 3-1. It was short-lived, however, as Cheboygan scored two quick goals to start the second half. Then, McArt scored to make it 4-3, before the game was tied again.

With less than four minutes remaining, Cook set up Stilson beautifully for the game-winner.

“This team is just super-competitive,” Byram said. “Everybody on the field and everybody on the bench just wants to find a way to win. We struggled a bit on defense, but they are all correctable mistakes.”

Byram mentioned outside midfielders Edwards and junior Dustin Mastej had excellent games, as did senior strikers Palm and Jeff Birk, who are new to the program. Sophomore Jon Scott earned the win at goalkeeper.

Gaylord, which finished with just three wins last season, looks to continue the productive opening week with home games against Tawas Area Wednesday and Ogemaw Heights Friday.

JUNIOR VARSITY — Gaylord equaled its win total from last year with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Cheboygan.

Mike Oltersdorff and Sam Noss scored for the Blue Devils, who received a huge game in goal from Matt Green. Midfielder Tyler Sugden was also excellent for Gaylord.

NOTE: The Blue Devils will be holding a team fundrasing car wash from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at Wiz Wash, at the corner of Old 27 and McCoy Road.